Maybe he's not that bad
by Noriann
Summary: You're a brand-new Avenger, and you're going to move in Stark Tower, where your teammates live. Unfortunately (?), the first person you meet when you arrive is Loki, the god of mischief... But, hey, maybe he's not that bad! Basically some ReaderXLoki stuff I write at 2 a.m. I hope you'll enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

When you first saw the Stark Tower, you found it quite huge and flashy. Especially with the "Stark" name written in big letters at the top. Seriously, who does write their name on their own building? You always found this way too pretentious.

But you must admit that when you finally come at the building, you find it impressive. It dominates you from all its height, and you feel almost overwhelmed. Being in front of the doors of the Stark Tower makes you suddenly fully aware of the fact that you're going to join the Avengers, and you start feeling a bit nervous. You turn to the SHIELD's agent that drove you here, but he's already back in the car and ready to leave. You cannot turn back. Well, no choice then. You take a deep breath and you move towards the automatic doors.

Almost all the Avengers live in the Stark Tower, but nobody's here when you arrive. They must have gone on a mission somewhere, which leaves you alone for your first day as an Avenger. In the empty living-room, you feel rather out of place. You hold your backpack close to your chest, not really knowing what to do. Of course you know that a room has been attributed to you, but you don't know where it is.

You hesitate during a good five minutes before finally deciding to go and explore the tower in search of your room. You realize that this place is even bigger than what you expected. How the hell could you possibly be lost in a stupid _building_? You know your sense of direction has never been good, but still… You don't know if you're still trying to find your room or just a way out when you finally meet someone. Well, rather bump into someone. First you feel relieved to find someone that could help you, but then you realize who it is and you freeze. Long black hair, perfect white skin, striking green eyes… There's no way you could be mistaken: the person you just bumped into is Loki, the god of mischief. Yes, the one who tried to enslave the whole humanity, a year ago.

Being a (brand-new) Avenger, you know that after his defeat, Loki was condemned to stay on Earth, and he had started to work with the Avengers on some missions – though his appearances were never made public, for obvious reasons.

The first thing you think is _Oh god he's even more handsome in real_. (Cause you've always found Loki pretty much attractive. Yeah, even though you first saw him when he was trying to destroy the Earth with an army of Chitauri. Something's probably wrong with your brain, but you can't deny the fact that you find the northern god awesome.)

Then you realize that you just bumped into _Loki_ of all the people and your second thought is _Oh god I'm so dead_. (For someone who's not a believer, you use this expression very often.)

You take a step backwards, blushing and feeling totally awkward.

"Em, I'm sorry", you finally manage to say, without looking straight at him.

He just ignores you and moves to go past you, which is a bit better than killing you on the spot because you offended him, as you were half-expecting him to do. You feel relieved and a bit upset at the same time. _He could have said something, at least_ , you think, before realizing than when it comes to Loki it's probably better to stay ignored. You turn around and watch him walk away.

"Um, excuse me?"

The god stops, and you just want to slap yourself. _Why the hell did I speak?_ Well, now it's too late to go back, so you continue:

"I'm new here, and I'm a bit lost. Do you know where I could find my room?"

You can't believe you just asked the god of mischief himself to show you the way to your room. _If I'm lucky, he'll just ignore me again and walk away_ , you think.

But he doesn't. Instead, he turns back to face you. He watches you closely, and you have to force yourself not to fidget like a kid under his sharp glance.

"So you're the new Avenger? The girl with powers over the wind, right?"

You feel stupidly flattered that he has heard of you.

"Yeah, that's me," you answer.

"You look awfully young," he says, and that upsets you though you don't really know why – after all, you hear that comment all the time.

"Yeah, I know," you say, a bit coldly. "I'm twenty-four, though. That's not so young."

"That's still very young for me," he replies with a shrug, and that makes you wonder how old he is exactly. You know that Asgardians have a very long lifespan, way longer than humans', but you also know that Loki is still young for an Asgardian.

Your train of thoughts is interrupted when he speaks again:

"You're new here and they leave you alone for your first day? That doesn't seem very kind to me."

"As if you were a model of kindness yourself," you say ironically.

You regret the words the instant you say them – you and your big mouth, seriously – but he doesn't seem angry. He seems… amused, if anything. A small smile plays on his lips.

"True enough," he says. "But I never pretended I was."

Before you can answer, he changes the subject:

"You were searching for your room, right? It's close to mine. Follow me, I'll show you."

You hurry after him. With his long legs, he strides quickly, and you have to speed up your pace to stay just behind him. You walk all the way in silence. You're amazed (and, frankly, totally surprised) that Loki has accepted to help you. _Maybe he's not that bad?_ you think, before scolding yourself: _He's a bad guy, don't believe otherwise! He killed people and wanted to enslave the rest! He's definitely not a good person. He could kill you without a second thought_. But you cannot fully convince yourself.

Loki finally stops in a small lounge surrounded by three wooden doors.

"Here is your room," he says, pointing to the closest one.

"Whose are the others?" you ask, curious to know who your neighbors are.

"This one is Thor's, the other's mine," the god answers, already walking towards his room.

He waves a hand at you, not even looking in your direction. "Bye."

"Bye!" you answer, but he's already in his room.

"It's been a pleasure to meet you, too," you mutter, sarcastic; but in truth you're happy (and still a bit surprised) he has talked to you. You feel better now that you've talked to someone, less nervous and more at ease.

You walk towards your own room and you enter. With a content sigh, you drop your backpack on the floor and throw yourself on the soft bed. You take a look around, watching your new home. The room is nice and cozy, with cream-colored walls and large windows. You stand up to explore a bit. There's a wooden desk in a corner, a bathroom in the back and even a small fridge, like in an hotel's room. Given some time, you could feel perfectly at home here. You feel definitely better now.

With a smile, you start unpacking your things.

* * *

Hi! It's 1 a.m. and here's some Loki fanfic I just wrote... I don't even know why I'm publishing this. Anyway, I hope you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When you've finished, it's already half past six. (No, you don't take that much time to unpack your things; it's just that you can't help but read a few pages in every book you pull from your bag before putting them aside, and you have _a lot_ of books.) You're a bit hungry, and you decide to go back to the living-room. The others must be back from their mission, now. You feel slightly anxious again at the idea of meeting the Avengers, even though you're officially one of them (well, since yesterday, but still). It's not everyday you meet the guys who saved the world, after all. But then, it's not everyday you meet the guy who tried to destroy the world, neither, and you've already survived your encounter with Loki, so meeting the Avengers should be fine.

Fortunately, you find your way back to the living-room almost immediately. You realize it's not far away from your room, when you know the way – just a small corridor to cross, and you're there. Obviously, you took the long way around earlier, when you were searching for your room. _Typical of my dubious sense of direction_ , you think.

Just before reaching the living-room, you hear people chatting happily, and you pause. The Avengers are here. You feel unusually shy, all of a sudden. You're not really at ease with people (especially famous ones), and you're a bit anxious. You stay here, silent and hesitating, for some time; when suddenly, you hear a low voice in your ear:

"What are you doing here, standing in the hallway?"

You almost jump in surprise and spin around, to find yourself face to face with Loki, again. He has scared you with his unexpected coming, and from the crooked smile on his face he's clearly enjoying this. You click your tongue, annoyed. _What an idiot_. (You don't dare to say it aloud, though. Loki may be in a good mood today, but better not push your luck.)

"Nothing," you say. "I'm just…"

You stop in mid-sentence, and the god's smile widens.

"Just what?"

He pauses, and his smile is even wider when he speaks again: "Don't tell me you're actually afraid? You're a superheroine with great magical powers, and you're afraid to speak to people?"

"I'm not afraid!" you reply automatically. "And I'm not a superheroine neither."

"Whatever you say."

You roll your eyes and sigh.

"I'm not afraid," you repeat. "It's just that, well, they're the Avengers!"

"As a matter of fact, so are you," Loki says, rising an eyebrow.

"Only since yesterday," you retort. "Contrary to them, I'm not famous, and I didn't save the world. You'll excuse me if I'm a bit shy!"

"There's no need to be," he replies scornfully. "Heroes or not, they're still mere mortals."

You roll your eyes again. _How pretentious is that guy?_

"And so am I. Not everyone's lucky enough to be a god, you know."

Said god ignores your sarcasm and takes a step forward, but you're in his way.

"Are you eventually going to move or what?" he asks, a bored look on his face.

You don't bother to answer but you move towards the living-room nonetheless (while mentally slapping yourself for finding Loki sexy with that bored look). The Asgardian follows you into the room, which is now crowded with people; but when you enter, all the conversations go silent. It's awkward, really, but most of the people are looking at Loki, not at you. It seems that he's still mistrusted (but then, that's no surprise; even a year later, the memories are still fresh, and it's hard to forgive the guy who has tried to destroy your planet).

If you had drawn attention to yourself like that, you would have felt utterly awkward; but it's not the case for Loki. The god merely smiles and crosses the room, undisturbed as ever. Well, not really undisturbed; actually, it looks more like he's _enjoying_ this. You can't help but feel a little admirative.

The others watch him go in silence. If Thor had been here, things may have been a bit different (you assume that even after all this, the Asgardian still likes his brother), but the god of thunder is nowhere to be seen. However, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton and Tony Stark are here, and once Loki's gone they all turn to you.

"Um, hello," you say, your mouth suddenly dry.

"Hello! So, you're the new recruit? Well, welcome among the Avengers!" Tony Stark says with a bright smile and a grandiloquent gesture. "I'm Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

"Yeah, I… know who you are," you say.

(You found Loki pretentious, but obviously, with Tony Stark, it's reaching a whole new level of pride.)

"It's nice to meet you," you add. "I'm glad I'm going to work with you!"

"Speaking of work, what's your… special ability?" Tony Stark asks.

"Wind," you answer. "I can manipulate it."

"You mean, like magic?"

"Well, sort of…"

You start talking about your power with the three of them, and soon the conversation turns into a debate over the existence of actual magic. Tony Stark is convinced that magic isn't real, and that everything can be explained by science, whereas you're not so sure about this. You think that some phenomena can't be explained, like for example the Asgardians' powers – or even yours, for that matter. Natasha agrees with you, while Clint watches the whole thing with an amused look on his face. In the end, being in minority, Tony exclaims:

"Hey, let's ask his opinion to Bruce! Besides, that'll be the occasion to introduce you to the rest of the team."

He half-drags you to the kitchen, where Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers are preparing dinner with a woman of which you assume she's Pepper Potts. You stare for a moment (actually you weren't expecting to see Hulk and Captain America _cooking_ ), then quickly introduce yourself. As soon as you're finished, Tony starts to explain the debate to Bruce, hoping that he'll join his camp, but he's interrupted by Pepper:

"Not now, Tony, the dinner's ready!"

You follow the others and sit down at a table, while Pepper and Steve bring the dinner. It smells really good, and you suddenly realize how hungry you are.

"Bon appétit!" Pepper says, once everyone has been served.

The meat is perfectly roasted and the mashed potatoes are delicious. You eat in silence for some time, savouring your meal and listening to the others talking. You learn thus that Thor's not here tonight because he went to see his girlfriend – a certain Jane Foster, a scientist. (You're pretty sure you've seen her name once or twice in the newspapers, but you didn't know she was Thor's girlfriend.) Apart from Thor, all the Avengers are here. Well, except one. Thinking of it, you haven't seen him since you met the others, and you wonder what he's doing.

"What about Loki?" you ask eventually.

"What, 'what about Loki'?" Clint asks, a bit coldly (for obvious reasons, he doesn't hold the god dear to his heart).

You clarify your question:

"Isn't he going to eat with us?"

They all look at you as if you had suddenly gone mad. It seems that their relationship with the god of mischief is even more tense than what you thought.

"Nah," Tony finally answers. "He never eats with us. Prefers to be alone."

"Oh."

"Which reminds me, you were with him earlier, weren't you?" Natasha asks you, a slight frown on her brow.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Was he rude to you?" Pepper asks, an obvious look of concern on her face.

"Eh? No!" You shake your head. "Actually, he was rather… nice. Well, sort of."

Natasha rises an eyebrow:

"Really?"

She's not the only one who looks skeptical. _They have lived with him for a year now_ , you think, _and they still distrust him that much…_ Yet he was rather kind to you, earlier. Well, not exactly kind, but not nasty, at least. You realize that you actually _enjoyed_ the god's company – and you clearly weren't expecting this when you came to the Stark Tower.

Your train of thoughts is suddenly interrupted by Natasha's voice:

"Be careful, anyway," she tells you. "He may have seemed nice, but you shouldn't trust him. He's never sincere, always false."

"Yeah, I know," you answer. "I've heard about the Trickster before."

Natasha nods. "Good."

After that, the conversation drifts on lighter topics, and you start spacing out.

When you finally go back to your room, about half an hour later, you don't enter straight away. You pause before your door and glance at Loki's. Light is filtering from under his door. You briefly wonder what he's doing, before mentally scowling yourself: _It' none of my concern, after all!_

You shake your head, and you enter your own room.

* * *

Hello everyone! So here's a new chapter. I've got the feeling my story is building up pretty slowly, which is a bit discouraging... Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Feel free to post reviews or comments to let me know what you think or to help me to improve myself!

(Also, I don't have any proofreader and English's not my mother language so if you see a mistake please let me know!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It's two a.m., and you still haven't had any sleep. You've been lying on your bed, staring at the ceiling, for three hours now, but sleep doesn't come. You'll be as fresh as a zombie tomorrow morning…

With a sigh, you finally sit up on your bed and turn on the bedside lamp. In nights like this, there is only one thing to be done: making yourself a nice cup of tea. You're not overly fond of tea, usually, but it turns out that this drink makes you more relax and helps you to sleep at times like this. (Though it should rather be the contrary, given that tea contains theine, which has pretty much the same effect as caffeine; but for some unknown reason, you find tea very relaxing.)

You stand up and pick a box full of tea bags from a shelf, along with a mug which reads _Chocolate is our enemy, but to run away from your enemy is to be a coward_. Box and mug in hands, you turn around before remembering that you have no kettle in your room. You'll have to go to the kitchen to make your tea. You don't mind, but maybe it would be nice to have your own kettle, afterward. You mentally add "buy a kettle" to your to-do-list, and you walk out of your room.

You stop on your doorstep, though, because you've suddenly noticed that you're not the first person in the small lounge. Loki is there too, looking through the window, his fine features enlighten by the silvery moonlight. Even at this late (or very early, depending on the point of view) hour, he's still elegant, with neatly-combed hair and an anthracite custom-made suit. You're suddenly very aware of your own relaxed look – an old, loose t-shirt with a smiling panda, and a pair of jeans you quickly put on before leaving your room. Not mentioning the messy hair and the bags under your eyes. You feel quite awkward and you can't help but blush a bit when the god turns and looks at you, his gaze as piercing as ever.

"Um, hi," you say. "You're not sleeping?"

He shrugs. "Neither are you, as it seems."

You shake your head. "I can't sleep."

Loki says nothing, and there is a short pause during neither of you speak.

"I was going to make myself a cup of tea, do you want some?" you offer finally.

He hesitates, then shrugs: "Why not?"

He follows you into the kitchen, where you fill the kettle with water and turn it on. While the water is heating, you open your tea bags' box and pick a bag of vanilla black tea. You put it into your mug, along with a lump of sugar.

"What sort of tea do you want?" you ask Loki. "I have mint tea, orange blossom black tea, Matcha green tea…"

(You don't drink tea often, but most of your friends and family do; that's why you have such a complete collection of tea bags, for when they visit you.)

"What did you take?" he asks, leaning over your shoulder and watching the box's content. "Vanilla tea?"

"Yeah, this one," you answer with a nod.

"I'll take the same."

"Okay."

You give him a vanilla tea bag and he put it in a mug he's just produced from nowhere. You stare, marveled.

"Was that… magic?"

Loki chuckles, evidently amused by your amazed reaction.

"Yeah, but it's just a simple trick," he says.

"Just a simple trick? That's already great!" you reply.

You don't even try to suppress the awe in your voice. You've always been fascinated by magic, ever since you were a kid, and watching even the simplest trick of the master of magic makes you amazed and overenthusiastic. You may be able to control the winds, but the kind of magic Loki practices is totally different from yours, and you don't have the slightest clue about how it works – hence the amazement.

"Believe me, that's only a very small part of what I can do," Loki answers with a self-satisfied smile.

You look at him, half exasperated by his smug attitude, half even more amazed at the idea of all the magic he can do. _That guy is really proud of himself_ , you think. But then, he has reasons to be so, given all the power and all the magic he has. Well, of course, the utilisations he made of these powers are far more… questionable. Yet you can't help but admire him, somehow.

Your train of thoughts is suddenly interrupted by the whistling of the kettle. You fill Loki's mug and yours with hot water, and a nice sent of vanilla spreads in the kitchen. You blow on your tea, waiting for it to cool down before taking a few sips. In front of you, Loki drinks his tea, visibly oblivious to the fact that it's almost burning. You watch him for a moment, thoughtful, and you say:

"I didn't think you'd like vanilla tea. In fact, I didn't think you'd like tea at all."

He rises an eyebrow. "Really? Why?"

"Well, I don't know… It's just that tea never struck me as an Asgardian drink."

"It's not," the god answers. "There's no tea in Asgard. I discovered this drink when I first came to Midgard. That's one of my favourite human drinks, actually."

You try to add this new discovery to the picture of Loki you had in your mind. Actually, it's rather hard to think that the guy who's in front of you, sipping his tea with a content smile, is the same person that tried to take over the world with an army of Chitauri, only a year ago.

There's a moment of silence during which Loki and you slowly drink your tea, both of you lost in thoughts. After a while, the god looks at you, a curious look on his face, and asks:

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Uh? Afraid of what?" you answer without thinking. (At the time, you genuinely don't understand why you should be afraid.)

Loki stares at you, obviously incredulous, and a wide, unbelieving smile appears on his face.

"Well, afraid of me, of course," he says. "We're alone here. I could kill you in no time at all, and no one would ever know what happened to you."

You cock your head, considering what he just said.

"I don't have enough common sense to be afraid of you," you finally answer with a shrug. (You try to ignore the small voice in your head who adds: _And there's also the fact that I'm more attracted by you than afraid of you…_ ) "Besides, you wouldn't do that, would you? Killing me would bring you nothing, and I do think you don't kill without reason. Also, if you've really wanted to kill me, you would already have done it. And you wouldn't have warned me."

"That's what you think," he says. "But you know nothing for sure."

"Well, yeah. That's only suppositions."

You hesitate a bit, then add, very honestly: "But, somehow, I feel… safe right now, even though I know I shouldn't."

( _I don't believe you would really hurt me_ , you think, but you don't say it aloud. That's only an intuition, and you can't say your intuitions are really reliable. Especially when it comes to handsome, dangerous guys.)

Loki glances at you, a thoughtful look on his face, and says nothing.

"I know, it's weird, isn't it?" you say with a sheepish smile.

"Not as weird as one could think," he answers softly.

Before you can ask him what he means by those rather enigmatic words, he stretches out and says:

"Thereupon, I'll go back to my room. Goodnight, and thanks for the tea."

He's already striding towards the door when you answer: "Goodnight!"

Then, Loki disappears into the hallway, leaving you alone in the kitchen. You stare at the door for a while, pondering on the conversation you just had, before the somnolence finally catches you up. _It must be almost three a.m., now_ , you realize. You stifle a yawn and quickly wash your mug in the sink. Then, tea bags' box and mug in hands, you go back to your room.

This time, you fall asleep as soon as your head touches the pillow.

* * *

The quote on the mug goes out to you, Izuki! ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Another fire ball is thrown at you, and you just have the time to jump to the side to avoid it. While the projectile crashes behind you, you run towards a car to shelter behind it. You're quickly followed by Rodriguez, the SHIELD's agent who accompanies you on this mission.

"Can you do something to stop her?!" he asks you, breathless.

"Well, I could summon a tornado, but I thought you wanted to avoid civil casualties," you answer, sarcastic, though you're as breathless as he.

 _And to think that it was supposed to be a quiet, routine mission!_ you mutter to yourself. Yet here you are, hidden behind a car and targeted by a mad, fire-balls-throwing teenage girl. When exactly has the mission gone so wrong?

This was supposed to be easy. A girl with psychic powers had started to use her abilities to manipulate people and take money from them, and the SHIELD had sent an agent to arrest her. Given that the SHIELD had developed protections against psychic manipulation, there was supposedly no risk in this mission. You have been sent to accompany the agent nonetheless, in case things went sour, but nobody really believed this would be the case. In a nutshell, an easy mission for a beginner like you.

Well, until it turned out that the girl had not only psychic abilities, but also powers over fire, that is. As soon as you've approached her, she has started throwing fire balls at you, not even letting you say a word. You clearly weren't expecting that, and neither was Rodriguez; which explains why you are both now sheltered behind a car, while the girl keeps on throwing fire balls in your general direction.

"I've called for reinforcement," Rodriguez says. "Hopefully they'll be here soon."

"Yeah, but how soon is 'soon', exactly? She did not strike me as the patient type, and I doubt this car will hold long against her fire," you reply.

As soon as you've said that, someone materializes from nowhere just beside you. You almost jump out of your skin before recognizing Loki (really, it seems that the god makes an habit of scaring you every time he comes). Behind you, Rodriguez stiffens and takes a step back, obviously distrusting him.

Loki ignores him and smiles at you:

"Well, that's your first mission and you're already in trouble?"

"Hey, that's not my fault! How exactly was I supposed to know that this girl could also throw fire balls?" you protest weakly, still trying to recover from the shock caused by his sudden appearance. When your heartbeat has slowed down a little, you ask: "What are you doing here?"

"You called for reinforcement, didn't you?"

"And they sent you? That was quick," you say.

"The advantages of teleportation," Loki answers with a mocking smile.

In another situation, you would have been amazed at the idea of teleportation, but right now you have more urgent matters to sort out.

"Can you do something to stop her?" you ask Loki.

He snorts, scornful: "Don't ask stupid questions. Of course I can."

You don't have the time to ask him what he's going to do; he walks away from you, exposing himself. As soon as he's left the (precarious) shelter of the car, the girl throws a fire ball at full speed at him. He doesn't even flinch as the projectile flies towards him.

"What's he doing?!" Rodriguez exclaims. "He's going to be charred!"

But that's not what happens. You watch, open-mouthed, as Loki catches the fire ball with inhuman reflexes and sends it back to its thrower. The girl just has the time to jump on the side to dodge her own projectile. Taking advantage of her distraction, Loki casts a spell at her – or so you assume: he merely waves a hand, and the girl collapses on the ground.

Behind you, Rodriguez swears. He quickly stands up and hurries towards the girl, presumably to check if she's still alive. You run after him, but you stop when you reach Loki.

"Did you just kill her?!" you exclaim.

"Of course not!" He looks indignant. "I simply put a sleep spell on her. It should wear off after a few hours."

"Oh." You pause, a bit surprised and frankly relieved. "Well, that's… good. Thanks."

Kneeling besides the teenage girl, Rodriguez checks her pulse, then rises his head and nods at you. _She's alright._

"Your SHIELD's friend will take care of her," Loki says. "We're no longer needed here. May I take you back to the Stark Tower?"

"You mean… With teleportation?" you ask, eyes wide with surprise and awe.

He nods, his smile as smug as it could possibly be; but his eyes are sparkling. He holds a hand out to you: "Shall we?"

A wide smile spreads on your face.

"Just wait a minute," you say to Loki. You turn to Rodriguez and ask:

"Will everything be okay now?"

The SHIELD's agent nods. "Agents are on their way. We're going to bring the girl to the SHIELD's headquarters, to interrogate her as soon as she awakes."

"Okay. Then, if you don't need me anymore, I'll go back to the Stark Tower with Loki," you say.

You don't wait for Rodriguez to answer: you turn back to the god and take his outstretched hand, still smiling widely. He casts the teleportation spell, and a warm, golden light surrounds you. You close your eyes for a second, and when you reopen them, you're in the living-room of the Stark Tower.

"That's… amazing!" you breath.

"I know," Loki answers, a smug smile on his face. " _I_ am amazing."

"Pff! You're too full of yourself!" you say. You punch him on the arm, but gently, and you add, slightly blushing: "But, yeah, I think we can say you're amazing."

Loki's smile widens.

"I'm glad someone finally recognizes it."

"Well, you may be amazing, but obviously you don't know what modesty is!" you reply, half serious, half mocking.

"What need do I have of modesty?" the god answers with a shrug, and you can't figure out whether he's really serious or not.

You don't have much time to think about it: Loki, seemingly thinking that the conversation has ended, walks away, presumably toward his room.

"Anyway, thank you for your help!" you exclaim as he reaches the corridor.

He turns around and smiles at you:

"Yeah, try to do better next time, so I don't have to come and save you!"

And he disappears before you have time to answer.

You shake your head. Seriously, what a smug guy he is! Yet, you can't help but feeling a wide smile spreading on your face.

It seems that you really like him...

* * *

Sorry for the late update! I didn't have much time to write lately, but it should be better now.

I hope you still enjoy the story! If you have ideas of scenes or things that you would like to see in the story, let me know in the comments, I'll try to integrate them in the next chapters!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

In the evening, you find yourself alone – again – in the Stark Tower. Everyone has gone out for dinner: Thor eats with Jane Foster again, while Tony has invited Pepper in a very expansive restaurant. Clint and Natasha are having a romantic diner (assuming a diner between two master assassins can be considered as 'romantic'), and Bruce is at the other end of the country, giving a science conference. Even Steve Rogers isn't there, though you have absolutely no idea what he's doing.

This leaves only Loki and you in the tower. You hesitate for some time, but you finally take your courage in both hands, and you knock on the god's door. He doesn't answer, so you call:

"Loki?"

Finally, the door is opened, and he looks at you, an eyebrow risen in interrogation.

"What do you want?" he asks.

"Um, what would you like to eat?"

"What?" He stares at you, openly surprised now.

"Well, there's only the two of us at the Stark Tower tonight, so I thought that we could eat together, maybe? I can cook for us both. Well, if you want, of course."

He looks totally incredulous, but he quickly recovers and gets back to his usual half-bored, half-smug look.

"Why not?" he says with a shrug.

You can't believe he actually said yes, and you're practically beaming when you ask again:

"So, what would you like to eat?"

"That depends. Let's see what's in the kitchen, first."

Loki stretches out and leaves his room. You take a step to the side and he walks past you, heading toward the kitchen. You follow him quickly, happy he's accepted your offer.

Once you're in the kitchen, you start looking through the cupboards, searching for something you could actually cook. The god watches over your shoulder while you open each cupboard, hesitating. Finally, he asks:

"So? Don't you find something to cook?"

As you don't answer straight away, he speaks again:

"Wait, you can cook, right? What can you cook?"

"Um, well… Nothing really sophisticated," you admit. "Mostly pasta, actually."

"Pasta don't qualify as 'cooking'," Loki retorts. "Is that all that you can do?"

"At least that's an easy meal," you reply. "But I could cook other things, too. Probably. Well, if I can find a recipe on the internet."

The god rolls his eyes and snorts: "You mortals always look at internet like a deity, but it isn't the answer to everything, you know."

"Don't tell me you're actually jealous?" you tease him.

He merely sighs, without answering to your teasing. Instead, he says:

"So, you _can't_ cook." He ignores your offended "hey!" and continues: "I guess I'm the one who'll have to cook then."

"You… what?"

You stare at him, taken aback. Is the god of mischief really offering you to cook dinner for the two of you?

"You can _cook_?" you ask.

He seems offended by your obvious surprise.

"Of course I can. There's nothing complicated with cooking."

That's not your opinion – if cooking was that easy you'd do other things than pasta or frozen food – but Loki doesn't pay attention to your remark: he's already opening cupboards and picking ingredients.

"What are you going to cook?" you ask, curious.

"An omelette with grilled vegetables."

He takes a tomato and a green bell pepper from the fridge, and he turns to you:

"Do you eat much?"

"Uh?" You blink in surprise. "Why do you ask that?"

He rolls his eyes, obviously exasperated.

"To know how much vegetables we'll have to take."

"Oh, ok. Well, I don't eat that much," you answer.

"These should be enough, then."

He gives you the tomato and the bell pepper.

"Cut these in small cubes."

"You could at least say 'please'," you say, half-kidding – but you don't take the vegetables.

Loki doesn't even flinch. He keeps looking at you, not moving.

"Okay, fine," you say finally, rolling your eyes; and you take the vegetables.

You take a chopping board and a knife and you start cutting the tomato, while the god picks some eggs and breaks them in a bowl. You watch him whisk the eggs, fascinated. You still can't believe Loki is actually cooking. Watching him cook is a bit like watching the Queen of England mow the lawn: it's… unexpected, to say the least.

You realize you've been staring only when Loki clears his throat and rises an eyebrow at you. You quickly look down, blushing. Before the god can tease you, you ask:

"So, um, where did you learn to cook?"

He turns on the hot plate and puts a frying pan on it before answering:

"I read. Then I practiced. It's not difficult, you know."

"Then I wonder why I can't do anything besides pasta," you mutter.

"You lack practice, that's all," he says with a shrug.

He turns back to you, and clicks his tongue in annoyance when he notices that you've only cut half a tomato. He takes the knife from you and quickly cuts both the half-tomato and the bell pepper into tiny cubes, then puts them into the frying pan.

You watch him shake the pan to prevent the vegetables from sticking to it. Then he takes the whisked eggs and pours them into the pan.

"It'll be ready in five minutes," he says.

"Okay."

While the omelette cooks, you set the table for Loki and you. Then you sit down and the god serves the omelette. He leaves the pan in the sink and says:

"You're the one doing the washing."

"Fair enough," you answer, while he sits down in front of you.

"Bon appétit," you say.

You put a piece of omelette in your mouth.

"Hey, it's delicious!" you exclaim, almost surprised.

Loki smiles smugly, obviously proud of himself. You roll your eyes and sighs out of habit, but you're used to this now; and - let's be honest - you find this almost cute.

You all but devour your plateful, and you're soon finished. You catch the glimpse of a small smile playing on Loki's lips, even though he hides it as soon as he sees you watching. He seems happy to see that you like his cooking, and that makes you smile, even if you don't really know why.

"Why did you learn to cook, in the first place?" you ask, curious. "Didn't you have servants who cooked for you, when you were in Asga–"

You stop abruptly in mid-sentence, realizing that it's probably not your best idea to talk of his golden past to the fallen prince.

"Um, sorry," you stammer.

Loki waves your excuses away. "Yes, I had some servants when I was in Asgard," he answers evenly, showing no emotions. "I learned to cook when I came to Earth."

You say nothing, but it must show on your face that you have something to say because the god speaks again:

"Ask your question."

You hesitate, but you ask: "With your scepter, you could… I don't really know how to say that, but you could take possession of people, right? So why didn't you ask one of those people to cook for you?"

Loki rises an eyebrow: "Have you ever tasted Barton's cooking?"

You shake your head, so he continues: "Believe me, once is enough. After that, I had no other choice but to learn how to cook."

With this, he stands up, leaves his plate into the sink and goes toward the door. Once he's on the doorstep, he turns to you and says: "The dinner was… nice enough."

You stare, open-mouthed; you can't believe Loki has actually said something _nice_.

"Wait, wasn't that a _nice_ comment? Who are you, and what have you done to Loki?" you say, mocking – but in truth, you're rather amazed.

The god doesn't reply to your mocking comment; instead, he merely says: "Don't forget to do the dishes," with a self-satisfied smile.

And he leaves.

You stay alone in the kitchen, the comment of Loki playing in repeat in your head. You feel absurdly happy that the god has liked your company, and a warm feeling spreads in your chest. You click your tongue, annoyed by yourself. _Stop overthinking!_ you scold yourself; and you turn on the faucet and start doing the dishes.

* * *

I thought I would have updated sooner, but this chapter took me longer to write than I expected... Sorry about that.

I hope you still enjoy the story!

There's a hint of Clintasha also, 'cos the two of them are so cute! (Sorry, Bruce, but Natasha and you is just... no.)


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